Harvey Relief: Individual Pledges/Commitments (Table 1.4)
September 09, 2017
Biblical. That's the word that best describes the rainfall visited on Houston and southeastern Texas by Harvey, the Category 4 hurricane that slammed into Texas on August 25. The storm meandered over the region for four days, dumping up to forty inches of rain in many places and over fifty in some, becoming the wettest tropical storm ever to hit the contiguous United States.
The catastrophic flooding that followed displaced nearly 40,000 people, prompted more than 17,000 rescues, and damaged over 200,000 homes (of which 12,700 were destroyed). The storm also caused at least 70 deaths and as much as $180 billion in damage, making it one of the deadliest and costliest hurricanes in U.S. history.
Support for relief and recovery efforts began to pour in within forty-eight hours and continued at an impressive clip for the next ten days. Here at the Foundation Center, our colleagues Andrew Grabois and Grace Sato have been tracking the corporate response, and thanks to their efforts, we're able to provide some good detail on more than $28 million from celebrities, sports figures, and wealthy individuals (see Table 1.4 below). We've also tracked nearly $189 million in corporate pledges/commitments of cash and product donations (Table 1.1), more than $58 million in foundation contributions (including $10 million from the United Arab Emirates) (Table 1.2), and over $9 million in public charity pledges/commitments (Table 1.3) — for a total, as of September 9, of almost $285 million ($284,911,000) pledged or committed to Harvey relief and recovery by private individuals and the private sector. Impressive.
We realize we haven't captured every dollar committed to relief and recovery efforts — and are aware that a lot of individual contributions have flowed into J.J. Watt's Houston Flood Relief Fund that may not be represented in our tables — but we do think this is as comprehensive accounting as you're likely to find. We encourage you to send us additional information as you encounter it and/or corrections to the information posted below. You can email that info (and any questions you might have) to Mitch at mfn@foundationcenter.org.)
As we're posting this, powerful Hurricane Irma, which has already flattened Barbuda and caused serious damage to Antigua, St. Martin/St. Maarten, and parts of the British Virgin Islands, has the Florida Keys and south Florida in its sights. Our thoughts are with everyone in the region who was not able to evacuate (or chose to ride the storm out in place). We'll be back on Monday with updates as the damage reports start to roll in.
[We're continuing to update the table as commitments are announced. Please scroll to the bottom of the post for ongoing updates; see also Foundation Center's Measuring the State of Disaster Philanthropy site for Harvey-related grants. We're also posting commitments designated specifically for Hurricane Irma relief and for Hurricane Maria and the Mexico City earthquake].
Table 1.1 (Corp.) | Table 1.2 (Fdns) | Table 1.3 (PCs) | Table 1.4 (Inds)
Table 1.4: Individuals
| Grantmaker | Type | Recipient | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leslie Alexander | NBA owner | Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund | $4,000,000 | |
| Odell Beckham, Jr. | Pro football player | Americares, Samaritan's Purse | $100,000 | |
| Chris Brown | Musician | American Red Cross | $100,000 | |
| Sandra Bullock | Actor | American Red Cross | $1,000,000 | |
| Charles Butt | Businessman | Houston Flood Relief Fund | $5,000,000 | |
| Jim Crane (Houston Astros) | Businessman | Houston Flood Relief Fund | $4,000,000 | |
| Ellen DeGeneres, Ellen DeGeneres Show | Entertainer | American Red Cross, SPCA Texas, Unknown Recipient(s) | $75,000 | American Red Cross ($25,000), SPCA Texas ($25,000) |
| Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show | Entertainer | Houston Flood Relief Fund | $1,000,000 | |
| James Harden | Pro basketball player | Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund | $1,000,000 | |
| Kevin Hart | Actor | American Red Cross | $25,000 | |
| Kieu Hoang | Businessman | Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund | $5,000,000 | |
| Huntsman Family | Business | Beaumont Foundation | $1,000,000 | To launch Huntsman Flood Fund |
| Kardashian-Jenner Family Family | Reality TV personalities | American Red Cross, Salvation Army | $100,000 | |
| DJ Khalid | Record producer | American Red Cross | $25,000 | |
| Kroenke Family | American Red Cross | $1,000,000 | ||
| Nicki Minaj | Musician | Houston Flood Relief Fund | $25,000 | |
| McNair Family (Houston Texans) | NFL owner | United Way of Greater Houston Relief Fund | $2,000,000 | |
| Paul Simon and Edie Brickell | Musicians | Unknown Recipient(s) | $1,000,000 | |
| Amy Adams Strunk (Tennessee Titans) | NFL owner | Houston Flood Relief Fund | $1,000,000 | |
| Donald Trump | POTUS | Multiple Recipients | $1,000,000 | |
| J.J. Watt | Pro football player | Houston Flood Relief Fund | $100,000 | |
| Chris Young | Musician | American Red Cross | $100,000 | |
| TOTAL: | $33,575,000 |
September 15, 2017
Businessman Kieu Hoang pledges $5 million to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund.
Updated individual total: $33,575,000
Posted by Andrew West | September 10, 2017 at 02:32 PM
While so many American businesses were generous during Harvey, one business, Gensler, the worlds largest architectural firm ($1.4 billion), who asked the public for $75,000 to benefit ONLY their employees though a GoFundMe campaign. Corporate Pandhandling during a disaster? Inappropriate and shameful. These were not charitable contributions, they were, according to the IRS "gifts." Gensler needs gifts from the public to support their employees? Why?
Business believes in People-helping-Texans. Gensler believes in People-helping-Gensler.
https://issuu.com/solutioneur/docs/gensler_public_appeal_for_gifts_to_